Weirdwolf

Orien MacDonald, a.k.a. Old School Tools, grew up in Alaska and Southern New Mexico, where his parents were part of the Back-to-the-Land movement. His dad taught workshops in building handmade houses out of adobe clay and had a vast woodshop where Orien whittled his first woodworking project at the age of five.

Read the full Etsy blog post and comment to enter to win Orien’s handmade chefs knife!

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I met master weaver Baba while I was visiting some friends in Highland Park, CA. After my morning walk to the local cafe I happened upon an enchanted little import shop with a weaving studio housed in the back. The shop, Pets With Fez run with Baba’s partner Nanette, is a wonderful nook filled with vintage, imported and hand-woven goods. He teaches 15th century Persian rug weaving techniques as well as floor loom weaving.

You can visit the Pets With Fez Weaving Studio at 5123 1/2 York Boulevard in Highland Park, CA or call (323) 478-1969.

Read the full Etsy blog post.

Photo by Faythe Levine

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Here’s the latest video from one of the series I produce for Etsy called Handmade Portraits.

Photographer Sharon Montrose and I had been trying to plan a shoot together for over eight months but our schedules never seemed to overlap. Then Sharon emailed me in February to let me know she was about to shoot photos of a three month old giraffe and I dropped everything to head to LA. What a surreal experience to watch a gangly seven foot tall baby giraffe walk through the door. It was a real thrill to capture the event and to see the incredible amount of teamwork involved in producing one of Sharon’s shoots. Thank you Sharon for being such a wonderful and supportive member of the Etsy community!

Read the full Etsy blog post.

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2/8 with Steve Gunn, Zachary Cale – Matchless Bar Brooklyn, NY

2/12 Unitarian Meeting House Amherst, MA

2/13 Jack Rose Memorial Concert – Latvian Society of Philadelphia Philly, PA

2/14 Issue Project Room Brooklyn, NY

2/15 The Market Hotel Brooklyn, NY

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The Winter ’09 issue of Fretboard Journal has a terrific interview between Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and guitarist Michael Chapman. For the past few years I’ve been producing a short documentary called Fully Qualified Survivor about Michael Chapman’s music and his life on Wrytree Farm with his wife Andru. Michael will be coming to the US to perform at the Jack Rose Memorial Concert in Philadelphia February 13th and playing some additional dates on the East Coast.

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It was a real treat to produce this portrait of dollmaker Mimi Kirchner. While spending the better part of two days shooting in her attic studio, Mimi effortlessly went from one work in progress doll to another, adding wonderful details with imagination and precision. I own one of Mimi’s creations and I have to say it it’s one of the prettiest things in my home.

Read the full article about Mimi Kirchner on Etsy’s blog. And watch the rest of the Handmade Portraits series here.

Also don’t miss out on Mimi’s pincushion world giveaway! Details are here.

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(music by Two Dark Birds, animation by JuliaPott)

Here’s the latest video from the Handmade Portraits series that I produce for Etsy. Fred & his partner Lynn of Birdhouseaccents live in a little condo in a suburb of CT. The area is lush with lots of birds and a fine walking trail around the local reservoir. The birdhouses are a fantastic mix of traditional primitive and goodies they find at flea markets and tag sales. The one I took home is toward the end of the video. A peach colored house with a black roof and black heart on the front. Very prairie gothic…

Read the full article on Etsy’s blog.

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(music by Two Dark Birds, animation by JuliaPott)

Here’s the latest episode in the series I produce for Etsy called Handmade Portraits. This past February I headed to Phoenix, AZ to shoot puppeteer Stacey Gordon’s adult puppet slam show called Die Puppet Die. The show ending in the three little pigs raping the big bad wolf. Oh my.

Read the full article on Etsy’s blog.

Puppeteer Stacey Gordon, aka Staceyrebecca, started making puppets with her church youth group as a kid. It wasn’t until after college that Stacey saw an adult puppet slam performed by Preston Foerder at the Great Arizona Puppet Theater and she decided to pursue puppetry.

(music by Two Dark Birds, animation by JuliaPott)

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This past week I shot a video portrait of dollmaker Mimi Kirchner for the Etsy series Handmade Portraits. Mimi’s doll are made from old sweaters and tons of vintage fabric she inherited from her fashionable mother. Meeting Mimi was a pure pleasure and I enjoyed poking around the cramped attic studio of her Arlington, MA. home. One of her most popular dolls are the tattooed men pictured above. The facial hair can be custom ordered so you can buy the tattooed weird beard doll of your dreams… haha…

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(music by Michael Chapman, Steve Gunn, The And Group, animation by JuliaPott)

Last summer I headed to Lawrence, Kansas for a friends wedding. While out that way I took the opportunity to shoot and a woodworker and fiber artist for the Etsy Handmade Portraits series I produce. The woodworker was the talented Robin Tucker of Wood Mosaics and the fiber artist was the wonderful Holly Stewart, aka Artstew.

Holly had such a compelling story I knew she would be a great character for this mini documentary series. Back in the 70′s she was a police officer for 15 years, raised her two daughters on her own and trying to stay connected to her art as best she could. Once her girls were older she moved to Kansas City to dedicate herself to her art. Read the full article on Etsy’s blog.

(music by Michael Chapman, Steve Gunn, The And Group, animation by JuliaPott)

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